George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon

George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon (9 February 1709 – 2 August 1780), was a British politician.[1]

The Lord Vernon
Portrait of Venables-Vernon, by John Vanderbank, 1736
Member of the British Parliament
for Lichfield
In office
1731–1747
Preceded byWalter Chetwynd
Richard Plumer
Succeeded byRichard Leveson-Gower
Thomas Anson
Member of the British Parliament
for Derby
In office
1754–1762
Preceded byViscount Duncannon
Thomas Rivett
Succeeded byLord Frederick Cavendish
William Fitzherbert
Personal details
Born
George Vernon

(1709-02-09)9 February 1709
Died2 August 1780(1780-08-02) (aged 71)
Spouses
Hon. Mary Howard
(m. 1733; died 1740)
Ann Lee
(m. 1741; died 1742)
Martha Harcourt
(m. 1744; died 1780)
Children9
Parent(s)Henry Vernon
Anne Pigott
ResidenceSudbury Hall

Early life

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Vernon was born on 9 February 1709. He was the eldest, and only surviving, son of Henry Vernon, of Sudbury, Derbyshire, MP for Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and his wife Anne Pigott, daughter and heiress of Thomas Pigott of Chetwynd by his wife Mary Venables (sister and heiress of Sir Peter Venables of Kinderton, Cheshire).[2]

Career

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Sudbury Hall

His father died in 1719, leaving him Sudbury Hall, and in 1728 he assumed, by royal licence, the additional surname of Venables after he had succeeded to the Cheshire estates on the death of his cousin, Anne Venables-Bertie, Countess of Abingdon (wife of Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon), in accordance with the will of his uncle and her father, Sir Peter Venables.[2]

Vernon began in politics as a Tory, but by 1754 was a supporter of Administration. He sat as a Member of Parliament, as an Anti-Walpole Whig, for Lichfield from 1731 to 1747 and for Derby from 1754 to 1762.[2]

In 1762 he was raised to the peerage as Lord Vernon, Baron of Kinderton, in the County of Chester.[3]

He lived at Sudbury Hall, one the country's finest Restoration mansions, which now is a Grade I listed building.[4]

Personal life

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Portrait of his third wife, Martha Harcourt, by Enoch Seeman, c. 1744

Lord Vernon was married three times and several of his descendants gained distinction. He married firstly the Hon. Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 6th Baron Howard of Effingham, in 1733.[1] Together they had a son:[1]

After her death in 1740 he married secondly Ann Lee, daughter of Sir Thomas Lee, 3rd Baronet, of Hartwell, MP for Chipping Wycombe and Buckinghamshire, in 1741. She died shortly thereafter in 1742.[1]

After her death the following year he married, thirdly, Martha Harcourt, daughter of the Hon. Simon Harcourt (a younger son of Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt) and sister to Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, in 1744.[5] Together they had a son:[1]

Lord Vernon died in August 1780, aged 71, and was succeeded in the barony by his son from his first marriage, George. His second son from his third marriage, the Most Reverend the Hon. Edward Harcourt (who assumed the surname of Harcourt) became Archbishop of York and was the grandfather of Sir William Vernon Harcourt and the great-grandfather of Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt.[1]

The widowed Lady Vernon moved to Grosvenor Square.[7] where she lived until her death in 1794.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lodge, Edmund (1838). The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage. Saunders and Otley. p. 503.
  2. ^ a b c Brooke, John. "VENABLES VERNON, George (1709-80), of Sudbury, Derbys. and Kinderton, Cheshire". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  3. ^ "No. 10205". The London Gazette. 1 May 1762. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cokayne, George Edward (1898). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant. G. Bell & Sons. pp. 27–28. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  5. ^ Jenkins, Philip (2002). The Making of a Ruling Class: The Glamorgan Gentry 1640-1790. Cambridge University Press. pp. 41, 183, 214, 229. ISBN 978-0-521-52194-9. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  6. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3995.
  7. ^ "Grosvenor Square: Individual Houses built before 1926 Pages 117-166 Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings)". British History Online. LCC 1980. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
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Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Lichfield
1731–1747
With: Richard Plumer 1731–1734
Sir Rowland Hill 1734–1741
Sir Lister Holte 1741–1747
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Derby
1754–1762
With: Lord Frederick Cavendish
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Vernon
1762–1780
Succeeded by